


Reflections

by ZDcookie_996



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Breaking The Rules, Implied Relationships, M/M, Post Styrian Grand Prix, Seb's thoughts after a crap race, Secret Relationship, thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:27:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25494604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZDcookie_996/pseuds/ZDcookie_996
Summary: As Seb wanders around the paddock, he reflects on his current surroundings in Austria.
Relationships: Kimi Räikkönen/Sebastian Vettel, Lando Norris/Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly/Charles Leclerc
Comments: 4
Kudos: 57





	Reflections

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I hope you are well! Here's a little post Styrian Grand Prix with Seb's reflections as he wanders along the paddock ignoring the fact that he has to go to the debrief. Some of you might be aware that after the actual race, Seb left Austria to go to Hungary without attending the media debrief (I think it was) and so Ferrari ended up cancelling it. The rest of this story is fiction whereby Seb walks through the paddock reflecting on his surroundings and the race. I apologise because I am aware that I constantly go between the teams' motorhomes and garages so hopefully you'll just imagine it for yourselves. I hope you all enjoy and please leave any prompts or comments! Thank you and take care!

Seb wandered through the paddock of Austria like he had done many times before but this time it was slightly different. He hadn't told anyone but recently he had started to reflect more on life and what that meant for his racing career. Everyone was talking about what he was going to do in 2021, would he go to Red Bull or Aston Martin? He didn't know himself and whilst part of him was slightly anxious at that thought, there was another part of him that was excited for the future. On his way to hid driver's room, he had taken the time to walk on his own and take in the sights that was the paddock, just in case he would take a break or retire full stop. Times were strange at the moment. He knew he as well as the other drivers were lucky to be racing right now given the global pandemic. Races cancelled or postponed left, right and centre. He was just glad to be in Austria right now. The weekend was finished and he should really be packing to head to Hungary but he needed a minute. The race had been a disaster and that was something Seb knew he wouldn't miss when he did stop racing. As he walked through the paddock, he stopped for a moment as he noticed two shadows in between two of the motorhomes. He caught sight of a red jacket and a hint of blue. Squinting, he realised that it was Charles and Pierre. From what he could see, Pierre had his hand on Charles' arm as he looked at him softly. Seb could tell just from that one look that there was something more going on and even though Pierre's face was covered by his mask, it was the eyes that gave him away. He could tell just by the way Charles slumped forward into Pierre's arms, demanding a hug that he was feeling guilty about the incident. He froze for a moment as Pierre's eyes met his. He looked around to make sure no one was watching him or the two young men before he smiled gently and winked. Continuing on his walk, he was aware that Pierre had been embarrassed about being caught especially when the Frenchman was with his teammate and also that they shouldn't be in contact with each other due to the rules regarding the social bubbles but Seb made a mental note to question Charles in Hungary. 

A flash of orange caught his eye and he could see the mechanics from McLaren packing everything away. They were in high spirits given that the team had picked up a lot of points from the past 2 race weekends. He smiled behind the mask and thought that it was great that McLaren were getting on well considering that they had had some bad seasons previously. 

He waved to different mechanics and personnel as he carried on walking. 

As he passed the Williams garage, he could see Nicholas lurking around in the background. Williams was another team which seemed to be doing well, even managing to get a car into Q2 of qualifying for the first time in nearly 2 years. There was a lot of pressure on Nicholas as a rookie but Seb knew that everyone had been in his shoes and he just had to drive and prove to people that like George, he could do something with a slow car. 

The next garage was the Alpha Romeo, the team that Kimi, his best friend, had moved to last year. He sighed. He missed those times where he could talk to Kimi about the car or about the race weekends. Obviously, he could talk to Charles about that now too but Kimi had a lot of experience and for Charles, it was only his second year at Ferrari, his third year in Formula 1. 

"Oi, oi, oi." He heard shouts behind him. 

He turned and smiled as he noticed Daniel heading towards him.

"I'm sorry about your race, man." Said Daniel behind his mask.

Seb shrugged.

"It is what it is."

Daniel frowned.

"It's still crap when its with your teammate." 

Seb nodded.

"He apologised."

Daniel lifted his elbow and Seb chuckled as he lifted his own arm so they could give each other an elbow bump. He walked on, not wanting to reflect on the race for much longer. Whilst it would have been nice to talk to Daniel and they could've probably talked all night, Seb knew that he had to get on.

The Red Bull garage came into view and Seb felt slightly annoyed that he couldn't really go over and talk to the mechanics given how the FIA hold given a warning to Ferrari for Seb talking to Christian and Helmut without his mask as well as Charles for travelling back home in between the first two races. He hated it when others would comment on how he would 'always talk to the boys at Red Bull'. He had been a part of the Red Bull family for a good few years before he moved to Ferrari. The team would probably be glad to see the back of Austria given how bad the first race had panned out. Seb noticed a little to the side of the garage that Max was talking to Lando and immediately clocked onto the lack of social distancing. Both young drivers had their masks on but they were definitely not two metres apart. He was aware of the fact that they were both good friends but he wondered over time if there was anything else going on as he watched them, both stood close to one another just chatting and laughing. 

He looked at his watch and sighed again. He had already told Britta that he wasn't going to take part in the debrief, he just wanted to get out of Austria and travel to Hungary. As he headed in the direction of his driver's room, he stopped as he heard music coming from the Mercedes motorhome. He wanted to be happy for them and for Lewis but he couldn't when he knew that this season was going to be Mercedes dominated and Ferrari couldn't play catch up. There was no denying it. It would be impossible, they would have to pray for a miracle to even get on the podium at every race for the rest of the season, never mind a win.

"Do you wish you were driving for them?"

Seb turned abruptly at the question, not aware of anyone else near him. Standing about two metres away was Ted Kravitz. He didn't have his trusty notebook in hand nor a microphone. When Seb managed to get over his shock, he laughed lightly.

"No, I prefer the red car."

He couldn't make out Ted's face but he was sure that the presenter was giving him a sympathetic look behind the mask. There were no other journalists around in the paddock, which was probably good for Charles and Pierre as that would be front page news if someone else had caught them together. 

"I bet you wish you could leave Ferrari right now." Ted said.

Seb stared at him.

"I can't right now." He said obviously.

Ted tilted his head a little.

"I have a job to do." Elaborated Seb.

"Even if you have a shit car?" Questioned Ted.

Seb rolled his eyes. He turned with the intention of going to his driver's room when he stopped as Ted shouted his name.

"You know you don't have to defend the team in front of me. We all have an idea of what people would have said if you had crashed into Charles."

That's what hurt. 

He was aware of what people were saying behind his back, regardless of the fact that he didn't have social media. It was one of the main reasons he understood Kimi's hatred for media and such things, he just wanted to race, which was why it was important for him to get out of Ferrari and go to Alpha Romeo so he didn't have to retire just yet. 

"I'll see you in Hungary, Ted." Seb said quietly, unsure if the presenter could actually hear him.

"Goodbye, Sebastian."

As Seb finally neared his driver's room, Britta came out of nowhere and grabbed his arm. He sighed.

"Britta, I'm sorry but I'm not going to debrief. There is no point, we didn't finish the race." He said impatiently.

Britta remained silent for a moment. Seb raised an eyebrow.

"What?" He asked.

Britta laughed.

"I won't tell anyone who is in your driver's room but don't be making a habit of it otherwise you'll get Ferrari into trouble again." She replied cheekily.

Before Seb could even open his mouth to ask what she was on about, Britta just winked and walked away. He made his way slowly to the door and opened it carefully. It wasn't until he walked in that he realised that Kimi was sitting on one of the chairs, playing on his phone. Seb quickly took his face mask off as he made his way over to the Finn.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in awe.

Kimi looked up at him and gave him a gentle smile.

"Trying to get you into trouble." He responded cheekily.

Seb laughed.

"Yeah, I'm in enough trouble as it is." He said bitterly.

Kimi looked up at him seriously.

"Britta told me you don't want to go to debrief."

Seb shook his head.

"No. I just don't want to deal with the questions and the whole thing of moving on. We're not getting anywhere. I just want to go to Hungary."

"Can I still come with you?" 

Seb gave Kimi a soft smile.

"Yes, of course."

Kimi slowly got up to his feet and laced his fingers with Seb's as he moved in closer. It wasn't until Seb attempted to close the gap between them that Kimi moved back and laughed at the scoff he got in return.

"Idiot."

Kimi smiled before he let go of Seb's hand to pull out his face mask from his fleece pocket.

"You ready to make a run for it before someone in red notices that I don't belong here anymore?"

Seb smiled before he put his own face mask back on.

"I was born ready."


End file.
